Armageddon

I avoided this movie for a long time. Still, you can't deny that it's sufficiently action-packed, excellently executed in terms of special effects, mostly has great scenery, and is a fantastic tearjerker. Then you might forgive Bay here and there for those Bay-esque absurdities he stuffs into every movie and the ridiculously far-fetched plot that pretends to be extremely believable. But a crisis situation indeed calls for crazy solutions. And this is really crazy. Great actors, carried by Bruce Willis. (20/10/2014)

This is truly an all-time favorite full of quality humor and characters. I'd be hard pressed to find a better elite. Bruce Willis' charisma is unbeatable, I can't get enough of Ben Affleck, the "Rat" Steve Buscemi made me laugh too much, and M.C. Duncan always adds that much-needed missing touch to a film. Perfect direction, a bombastic script, and I have a big soft spot for the music from this film. 100% for me. More than enough laughs and tears. (14/02/2011)

Clichés, clichés and then some more clichés. Add to that a hearty dose of patriotism and boredom, and the result is Armageddon. I don't want to be biased and so: the introduction with meteorites is decent, the training on the NASA base has flair and wit. The rest, on the other hand, is what I say above. (11/05/2003)

Armageddon has become a true action cult film over the past twenty years, which, while sometimes coming off as genuinely silly and poorly thought out today, is still a product of its '90s atmosphere and an excellent ensemble cast—an irresistible combo. Michael Bay is a director who has clearly split his audience into two camps. I must agree that his films suffer from excess and sometimes comically delivered dialogue, but their epic and bombastic nature usually manages to overshadow these flaws. For its time, the special effects are impressive, and I still had a great experience with it, so I understand how revolutionary it must have felt in movie theaters in 1998. Adding to that the brilliantly cast Bruce Willis, even if he sometimes overacts, makes it a no-brainer. As mentioned, don’t think too much about the plot; don't try to apply physical formulas or knowledge to the film, as that would clearly lead to a definite disappointment. However, I don't think that way, and I enjoyed the film despite its shortcomings, and the soundtrack also stood out. I give it 70%. (29/08/2019)

Michael Bay did it!!! I didn't know there was a film that, with its simple pathos, could trump Emmerich's mega-babbling Independence Day. However, Bay scored in a manner so vehement that he broke through the net and beat the spectators in the back of the stands. The first minutes, however, do not suggest any extreme performance, but rather it smoothes everything out into a decent action sphere with good actors and a certain sarcastic perspective; however, at the latest when the President of the USA unpacks his messianic hit and the anonymous mother personally declares to me one of the stupidest sentences in the history of cinema: "He's not a salesman, that's your daddy," Armageddon begins to have the right zest. This is followed by a somewhat weaker passage, where the film goes full-tilt action, everything explodes, is spoiled, corrected... until it turns into slightly boring fireworks. But there's also an excellent ending, where you can finally see some nice compositions with American flags (the actors certainly have them on their shorts) and to hear pearls like "You were the best, Harry!" Bay literally explodes with an orgasm of pathos, cheese and stupidity that knows no bounds. It's an orgasm as powerful as an asteroid explosion, backed up by famously arranged shots and especially (how many times is that now?) an excellent screenplay that has such verbal and stylistic power that it gave me a headache. Don't be angry with me about this waste. It's gourmet waste, the kind of waste I'll probably carry in my heart all the way to my personal Armageddon. I'm just praying something else doesn't beat him. What's that in your pocket, Roland??? (06/11/2005)